Kao Li was born in Nanjing on 5 October 1924. He graduated from a teachers' college and worked as a primary-school teacher and a civil servant on the mainland, joining a drama troupe during the war and touring widely, which gave him early experience of stage rhythm and staging. He entered the film industry as a continuity clerk in 1951 and learned his craft under the celebrated director Li Han-hsiang, first as continuity clerk on Red Bloom in the Snow (1956) and then as assistant director on many of Li's films, including The Girl Next Door (1957) and Springtime Unlimited (1957) for Shaw and Sons, and The Kingdom and the Beauty (1959), Rear Entrance (1960), The Magnificent Concubine (1962), Empress Wu (1963) and Wang Zhaojun (1964) for Shaw Brothers (Hong Kong) Ltd. He also wrote scripts for Li's films The Transplanted Wife (1957) and Diao Chan (1958), the latter winning Best Screenplay at the 5th Asian Film Festival and bringing him his first recognition. In 1961 he co-directed The Pistol with Li Han-hsiang, making his debut behind the camera to good notices, followed by the Huangmei opera film The Phoenix Returns to Its Nest (1963). In 1965 he directed The Mermaid, written by Chang Cheh, with Ivy Ling Po playing the scholar in male disguise and Li Ching in a double role, fusing song and dramatic conflict so well that Li Ching won Best Actress at the 12th Asian Film Festival; it remains his best-known work. Other films include Song of the Palace (1965), The Female Scholar (1966), The Unfading Blossom (1966), The Jade-faced Assassin (1967) and a new version of Chen San and Wu Niang (1967), mostly in the period, palace and Huangmei genres. He briefly left Shaw for Cathay in the late 1960s, making films such as The Dragon's Den (1968), then returned to Shaw in 1970, directing such pictures as Henpecked Husbands Are Great (1971) and helping Li Han-hsiang on The Last Tempest (1975). He later left film for business and died in Hong Kong on 17 August 1983.
Kao Li was one of the leading directors of Shaw Brothers' Huangmei-opera and period-film era. His The Mermaid (1965), written by Chang Cheh with Ivy Ling Po in male disguise and Li Ching in a double role, won Li Ching Best Actress at the 12th Asian Film Festival and made her a sudden star. Rising from continuity clerk and serving under Li Han-hsiang for years, assisting on such hits as The Kingdom and the Beauty and The Magnificent Concubine, he worked in a polished, disciplined style typical of Shaw's studio system.
Achievements
- 1951 · Entered the film industry as a continuity clerk and went on to learn under Li Han-hsiang.
- 1958 · Wrote the screenplay for Diao Chan, which won Best Screenplay at the 5th Asian Film Festival.
- 1961 · Co-directed The Pistol with Li Han-hsiang, his first time behind the camera.
- 1965 · Directed The Mermaid, for which Li Ching won Best Actress at the 12th Asian Film Festival.